I got a sponsored ad for this product a few months ago. A digital camera with no screen that resembles a disposable film camera. No way of seeing what you're shooting, a fun surprise. For the price I figured why not try it out. I pre ordered the camera for $55 USD. The price has since been raised $10 to $65 USD.
My first thoughts were, this thing is cheap plastic, the flash looks like a bright LED light, there is no way of telling how much battery is left because it also auto turns off. When you take a picture there is a sound that resembles the sound of a shutter on a film camera. It is pocket sized.
The numbers on the back indicate how many pictures you have taken. I covered up the sound speaker with a sticker to hopefully muffle the sounds of the shutter noise.
I went for a walk and just started firing off pictures. On the camp snap instagram they had example pictures that were clearly edited or maybe not even from this camera. They looked like pictures that were taken with an olympus stylus film camera. I had a feeling there is no way this camera can be that great but i'm curious to see how the pictures come out. Most of the pictures I took I just pointed and shot and I didn't think about a possible delay or lag of when I press the button to take a picture. I didn't look through the small viewfinder either.
On this day I tested out the camera I met up with Kate for lunch. We decided to go to Dime's and walked over the Williamburg bridge. I was just shooting anything and everything that caught my eye for no particular reason. At the end of the bridge was a crew of people posted up with shopping carts, clothes, bikes, etc. All the people were dozing off. I snapped this picture (above) which also was possible a lag or I was scared they would notice me, or whatever. As we walked by them I saw a bike that looked familiar. My mind raced and I realized it was Krugs bike and that he had posted on his story earlier that morning that his bike had gotten stolen. I facetimed him. He answered and I had my iphone camera pointed at his bike. He said something along the lines of "yo that's my bike wtf grab that shit!". I grabbed the handlebar and sort of walked slowly as I asked him where he wanted to meet us cause we were getting food. He was in bed. All of a sudden one of the guys dozing off said "hey what you doing?!" and started to walk towards me. I instinctually put my phone in my pocket and biked away as fast as I could down Delancy street. I hit a few green lights and then realized I had left Kate in the dust. I took my phone out of my pocket to call her and I was still face timing Krugs. "you got that shit?! fuck yeah!!! i'll be there in like 30!". I said cool and hung up. I called Kate and she said one of the guys was following her. She sounded panicked. I felt so bad that I had left her behind. I tried to ditch the bike at Labor, but I didn't know anyone working that day and they sent me back out the door. They said the bike shop Off The Bridge could maybe help me. I probably looked crazy and frantic. I was frantic. I went to the bike shop and the dude was very hesitant to help me store my friends stolen bike. "I don't want to get involved, I know those fuckers by the bridge, always stealing bikes" he said to me. Then he said that we could lock it out front and my friend owed him $10 to unlock it. I said yeah sure perfect. I then looked for Kate's location that was wondering around. We met at Dime's. Both of us in shock at the fiasco. I was expecting her to be very angry at me, and rightfully so. I want to say she wasn't pissed but I would have been. My mind was still racing and I suggested we just got back to Brooklyn. Naturally I wanted to avoid anymore confrontation from a possible someone who followed Kate waiting for us to leave the restaurant. That was enough for the day. I got us a cab back to Brooklyn and we went to Tacombi for tacos. Tacombi is just easy, never a wait, taste good. We ate chips and guacamole and talked about what just happened.
All above pictures are unedited, straight from the camera. The camera is fun because there are no expectations. I was bummed when certain pictures didn't turn out that I were hoping would. The camera doesn't handle motion, harsh light, and macro focus well. The highlights that are blown out are unsalvageable. The blurry focus on close up subjects could be intentional when knowing it will happen. And the motion blur is sometimes a fun surprise. I would say 1 out of every 20 pictures I liked. There is a 2gb card in the camera so I could take thousands of pictures. I did like looking at the pictures when I got home. A similar feeling of getting film back from a lab. The picture size is just fine for instagram and internet in general.
You could grab any digital camera, throw some gaff tape over an lcd screen, switch to "auto mode" and get a similar experience. Also, remember to lock your bike up.
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